Mazaca | |
 | |
  Caesarea Shown within Turkey Show map of Turkey Caesarea Caesarea (Europe) Show map of Europe | |
| Location | Kayseri,Kayseri Province,Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Cappadocia |
| Coordinates | 38°43′21″N35°29′15″E / 38.72250°N 35.48750°E /38.72250; 35.48750 |
| Type | Ancient Greek settlement |
| History | |
| Builder | Romans,Byzantines,Greeks |
| Abandoned | 11th century |
Caesarea (/ˌsɛzəˈriːə, ˌsɛsəˈriːə, ˌsiːzəˈriːə/;Greek:Καισάρεια,romanized: Kaisareia), also known historically asMazaca orMazaka (Greek:Μάζακα; Armenian:Մաժաք, probably fromOld Iranian for "Mazdā-city"[1]), was an ancient city in what is nowKayseri,Turkey. InHellenistic andRoman times, the city was an important stop formerchants headed toEurope on the ancientSilk Road. The city was the capital ofCappadocia, andArmenian andCappadocian kings regularly fought over control of the strategic city. The city was renowned for its bishops of both theGreek Orthodox andArmenian Apostolic churches.
After theBattle of Manzikert where theByzantine Empire lost to the incomingSeljuk Empire, the city was later taken over by theSultanate of Rum and became reconfigured over time with the influences of bothIslamic and, later,Ottoman architecture.
An earlier town or city associated with the Old Assyrian trade network can be traced to 3000 BCE, in ruinedKültepe, 20 km (12 mi) north-east. Findings there include numerous baked-clay tablets, some of which were enclosed in clay envelopes stamped withcylinder seals. The documents record common activities, such as trade between the Assyrian colony and the city-state ofAssur and between Assyrian merchants and local people. The trade was run by families rather than the state. TheKültepe texts are the oldest documents of Anatolia. Although they are written in Old Assyrian, theHittite loanwords and names in the texts are the oldest record of any Indo-European language.[2] Most of the archaeological evidence is typical of Anatolia rather than of Assyria, but the use of both cuneiform and the dialect is the best indication of Assyrian presence.
Caesarea was an inland trading partner for many nearby city-states, and also benefited from links both to the east and the west that gave it, vis-à-vis regional competitors, an advantageous position for trade relations.[3]
Mazaca was the centre of a satrapy under Persian rule until it was conquered byPerdikkas, one of the generals ofAlexander the Great when it became the seat of a transientsatrapy by another of Alexander's former generals,Eumenes of Cardia. The city was subsequently passed to theSeleucid empire after thebattle of Ipsus.
It became the centre of an autonomous Greater Cappadocian kingdom underAriarathes III of Cappadocia in around 250 BC. In the ensuing period, the city came under the sway ofHellenistic influence, and was given the Greek name ofEusebia (Greek:Εὐσέβεια) in honor of the Cappadocian kingAriarathes V Eusebes Philopator of Cappadocia (163–130 BC). The new name ofCaesarea (Greek:Καισάρεια), by which it has since been known, was given to it by the last Cappadocian KingArchelaus[4] or perhaps byTiberius.[5]
The city passed under formal Roman rule in 17 AD. In the first century of Roman rule, the Caesarea belonged to the only four major cities in the region, together withKoloneia,Melitene andTyana.[6] The city served as an imperial Roman mint factory and produced zinc and lead from mines of Delikkaya and Aladağ.[7]
Caesarea was destroyed by theSassanid kingShapur I after his victory over theEmperor Valerian I in 260 AD. At the time it was recorded to have around 40,000 inhabitants. The city gradually recovered, and became home to several early Christian saints:saints Dorothea and Theophilus the martyrs,Gregory of Nazianzus,Gregory of Nyssa,Basil of Caesarea,Andreas (Andrew) andEmmelia of Caesarea. In the 4th century, bishopBasil established an ecclesiastic centre in the suburbs, consisting of numerous charitable institutions (including a system of almshouses, an orphanage, old peoples' homes, and aleprosarium), monasteries and churches, that was later calledBasileias.[8] The hypothesis that the modern city of Kayseri, situated about two miles from the site of Caesarea Mazaca, developed around this complex is not confirmed by archaeology.[9] The city was overrun again by the Sasanian generalShahin during thewar of 602–628.[10]
It was an important trading centre[3][11] on theSilk Road.
In the seventh century, the city became part of the Byzantine border region and became a target of the annualrazzias theArabs conducted into Anatolia. As such, it was besieged over 5 times between 646 and 738 and though it was sacked only once byMaslama ibn Abd al-Malik in 725/6, the attacks took a toll on the city and its surrounding.[12] The imperial authorities therefore made Caesarea anaplekton and tenth-century sources indicate arms production in the city.[13] Since the ninth century the city became also the administrative centre as the capital of the ByzantineTheme ofCharsianon. Though the city lost most of its importance by the tenth century, is housed probably still around 50,000 people.[14] The city was pillaged, sacked and burnt in 1067 by the invadingSeljuks andTurkomans, who enslaved the city's residents. They also plundered the Church of Saint Basil the Great, taking its decorative gold, pearls and gemstones, but failed to destroy the structure itself. In two more instances, in 1069 and after theBattle of Manzikert, the Seljuks returned to the ruins of Caesarea to raid and pillage the surrounding Cappadocian villages.[15][16]
Kayseri Castle, built in antiquity, and expanded by theSeljuks and Ottomans, is still standing in good condition in the central square of the city.
The city has some surviving buildings and is otherwise largely the foundations of what is nowKayseri, Turkey.[3] By the 1920, the foundations of a large cathedral church, used if not built in the tenth century, were the only trace of Byzantine Caesarea.[14]
The diocese of Caesarea was the first of the churches of Asia Minor before thecouncil of Chalcedon (451) and was considered anapostolic see. It possessed wide influence and authority over thediocese of Pontus and Armenia, and tradition held thatGregory the Illuminator had started from here hismission to Armenia.[17]
The city's bishop Eusebius, predecessor to Basil, likely presided over theSynod of Gangra.[17] Another bishop, Thalassius, attended theSecond Council of Ephesus in 449 CE[18] and was suspended from theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451 CE.[19]
ANotitia Episcopatuum composed during the reign ofByzantine EmperorHeraclius in about 640 lists 5suffragandioceses of themetropolitan see of Caesarea. A 10th-century list gives it 15 suffragans.[20] In all theNotitiae Caesarea is given the second place among the metropolitan sees of thepatriarchate of Constantinople, preceded only by Constantinople itself, and its archbishops were given the title ofprotothronos, meaning "of the first see" (after that of Constantinople). More than 50 first-millennium archbishops of the see are known by name, and the see itself continued to be a residential see of theEastern Orthodox Church until 1923, when by order of theTreaty of Lausanne all members of that Church (Greeks) were deported from what is now Turkey.[21][22][23] Caesarea was also the seat of an Armenian diocese.[5]
No longer a residential bishopric, Caesarea in Cappadocia is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see of theArmenian Catholic Church and theMelkite Catholic Church.[24] It was a titular see of the Roman Church under various names as well, includingCaesarea Ponti.
.jpg)
.jpg)
